Protecting Her Daughter (Wrangler's Corner)

by Eason, Lynette

  FIFTEEN

  The knock on the door pulled Aaron from his thoughts on how to tell Zoe it looked like her father-in-law was behind the attempts on her life. Lance stood and followed him into the foyer. A peek out the window drained some of his tension. “It’s Sabrina’s grandmother.” He opened the door. “Hi, Mrs. Mayfield.”

  “I just saw Zoe get into someone’s car down the street. I called out to her, but she acted like she didn’t hear me. With all the trouble she’s been having I figured I’d better come see if everything was all right.”

  Aaron didn’t answer. He bolted down the hall and found Zoe’s bedroom door open. He glanced around the room and found it empty. Without bothering to investigate further, he spun on his heel. “Lance! She’s not here.” He raced back into the foyer.

  Mrs. Mayfield shook her head. “Of course she’s not here. I just told you she got in a car and left with that man.”

  “What man?”

  “Well, I don’t know his name, but I did think to write down the license plate. It’s a white Cadillac.” She pulled a scrap of paper from her pocket and handed it over to Lance. “I would have been here faster, but I had to go inside and find a piece of paper or I would have forgotten the number between my place and here.”

  Lance kissed her cheek and pulled out his phone. He glanced at Aaron. “Try calling her on her cell.”

  Aaron nodded, but had a sinking feeling in his stomach. He dialed her number and as he was afraid it would, it went straight to voice mail. He hung up and found Lance writing something down.

  Mrs. Mayfield still stood in the foyer wringing her hands. “I’ll be praying.”

  “Yes, please,” Aaron said. “Pray hard.”

  “Got it,” Lance said.

  “Got what?”

  “The car is a rental out of Knoxville.”

  “Whose name is it in?”

  “Jedidiah Mason.”

  Aaron flinched. “Jed. One of the guys who held us all hostage at the ranch. He’s the one who got away.”

  “No doubt hired by Alexander Collier. Fortunately, this company puts GPS trackers on all of their rentals.” He pressed another button on his phone.

  Aaron felt hope surge. Finally, it was time to bring this to an end. He just prayed they found Zoe before it was too late.

  *

  Zoe was stunned, rocked to her very core as his words echoed over and over in her mind. “Two-million-dollar life insurance policy?” Surely she’d heard wrong. “That’s crazy.”

  “Yes. And I need that two million dollars. Yesterday.”

  “Why?” she whispered. “Trevor never said a word. I never found any paperwork.” Alexander’s jaw tightened and he stared straight ahead, his knuckles white on the wheel as he drove. Realization came like a burst of lightning. “You told him to do it, didn’t you? You talked him into getting the life insurance policy.”

  Alexander shrugged. “I suggested it. I simply had to mention that once an addict always an addict. Pressed home the point that he couldn’t know for sure that you wouldn’t revert to your old ways, that you might overdose one day. It took some convincing, but he went along with it eventually. Just like everything I suggested.” He cut his eyes to her. “Except when I told him not to marry you. His one defiance.”

  “He loved you. Practically worshipped you,” Zoe said. Sickness curled in her belly. How did she not know about the policy? “When does the two-year contestability period end?”

  “You know about that, huh?”

  “Yes. When?”

  “Today.”

  “That was you on the phone at the ranch,” she whispered. “You called from Nina and Gregory’s house when the men had Sophia and me at the Updike ranch. Didn’t you? To tell them not to kill me because if they had—”

  “Yes.” He turned left and she frowned.

  “Because if I died before today,” she continued, “the insurance company has the right to take their time and investigate everything, delaying payment, but once the two-year contestability period is passed, they’ll pay out within thirty days.” She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the window. “You’ve been planning to kill me for two years.” It wasn’t a question.

  “It’s nothing personal. I’ve made some bad investments. Even got Gregory and Nina involved. Gregory was smart, but I was too stubborn to listen to him when he told me to sell. I kept thinking the stock would turn around.”

  “But it didn’t.”

  “No, it didn’t. I’ve been managing to keep my head above water, but just barely. And now it’s all about to come crashing down around me. Unless I come up with some big money in the next couple of months, I’m ruined.” He shot her another sideways glance.

  She felt light-headed. He talked about killing her like it was just another item to check off his daily to-do list. “Where does Brian fit in all of this?”

  He glanced at her. “What do you mean?”

  “He was the one who tried to break in last night. Aaron chased him, tackled him and pulled his mask off. He was in Nina and Gregory’s house earlier and recognized him in a photo.”

  Alexander’s nostrils flared and his jaw tightened. “I didn’t realize he’d messed up so bad.” The man heaved a sigh. “Well, at least I don’t have to worry about him talking. There’s no way anyone can connect him to me.”

  She stared at Alexander, the sick feeling building at the base of her throat. “What do you mean?”

  He slid her a glance. “Shut up.”

  Grief pierced her and she knew that Brian was dead. “You killed him.”

  “I said shut up!”

  “Why him?” she insisted. “Why involve him?” In spite of the trouble the man had brought down on her, she didn’t wish him dead.

  His fingers flexed on the wheel. “He wanted that stupid horse. I told him you’d stolen Sophia away from me and I just wanted to talk to you but I couldn’t even get close to you. I told him if he would simply bring you to me using whatever means necessary, I’d sign the horse over to him.”

  “But you don’t have the right to do that. The papers are in my name.”

  “Brian didn’t know that.”

  She ran her palms down her thighs as her brain whirled. The man was sick. “You planned to kill him all along.”

  He shrugged. “Once you turned up dead, I couldn’t have Brian going to the police, could I?”

  “Of course not.”

  He frowned at her sarcasm. She bit her tongue against the rest of the words she wanted to hurl at him, exercising extreme self-control to keep them from slipping from her lips. Oh, God, please help me.

  “What were you doing at Nina and Gregory’s the day the men attacked us?” she asked. “Are they in on this, too?”

  “Of course not. Nina’s pushy and likes things her way, but she doesn’t have the stomach for something like this. And Gregory—” he snorted “—he’s just a ‘yes, ma’am’ man when it comes to Nina. Whatever Nina says goes.” He tapped the wheel and glanced in the rearview mirror. “I’d forgotten they were out of town when I stopped by. Gregory’s been selling some of my wife’s antique pieces and I needed to get a check from him. While I was there Pete called me on my burner phone, but the battery was almost dead. I was getting ready to get in the car and leave, but could tell the situation demanded immediate attention when I heard the gunshots. I went in the house to use the landline to call him back.” His jaw flexed. “What are the odds that Pete’s cell phone would fall into law enforcement hands and they’d trace the number back?”

  “But they did. And they know someone was in touch with Pete the day everything happened at the ranch. Why do you think you can kill me now and—”

  “Because I can,” he snapped. “I have to.” He shook his head. “Like I said, it’s nothing personal. The money from your insurance policy goes to Sophia.”

  “And Sophia goes to Nina and Gregory as will the trust fund money,” she said. “What are you going to do? Kill them, too?” />
  He snorted. “Nope. You’re going to sign a codicil naming me as the beneficiary. I’ll wait a month or so and miraculously find the paper and the money will be turned over to me. It’s as simple as that. With you dead and Sophia in my custody, I’ll have immediate access to her trust fund. And then your life insurance money will come in over the next few weeks and everything will fall into place.”

  “What about Sophia? What’s going to happen to her?”

  “Assuming you cooperate, Nina will get to keep Sophia. Nina was heartbroken you two refused to move in with her after Trevor died. She’ll have no problem taking in her poor orphaned niece.”

  Cooperate. As in let him kill her. As in asking her to give her life so her child could live. She would. If she had to. But what would Sophia’s life be like without Zoe? Raised by Nina and Gregory? “Wait a minute, if you didn’t want me dead before today, why try to kill me all those times?”

  “I wasn’t trying to kill you, I was trying to get rid of all of the watchdogs. They were guarding you so tight I couldn’t get to you. Those idiots at the ranch nearly ruined everything. I hired them to kidnap the two of you, not start this incredible mess.” She blinked and thought back to all of the times they’d been chased or shot at. Every time she’d had someone with her. She shuddered.

  When he pulled into the drive of the Updike ranch, she gasped. “I want to see Sophia. Why are we coming here?”

  “Because this is where you’re going to realize the futility of your situation and resort to your old drug habits. Unfortunately, you overdose.”

  Horrified, she stared at the syringe he’d produced from seemingly out of nowhere. “I won’t,” she whispered.

  “You will,” he growled, “or Sophia dies. Your choice.”

  SIXTEEN

  Aaron drummed his fingers on the door handle of the car as Clay drove and Lance gave him directions according to the GPS tracker. “Take a right here.”

  From the backseat, Aaron didn’t have a good view of the electronic map system, but the route was familiar. He sat forward. “Wait a minute. That’s taking us to the Updike farm. He’s taking her out there. Why?”

  “It’s remote, no one’s there,” Lance said quietly.

  Aaron sat back with a thump. “He’s taking her there to kill her. Hurry up.”

  “Going as fast as I can,” Clay said. “You know we’re making a mighty big assumption that she’s in that car.”

  “Mrs. Mayfield said she got in a white Cadillac,” Aaron said. “The license plate matches the one we’re following. I think it’s a safe assumption she’s in the car. I don’t know who has her—Jed or Brian or even Collier himself, but Zoe’s in that car and I’m guessing she was forced to make the decision to either get in or risk something happening to Sophia. We need to get to her as fast as possible.”

  Clay glanced at Lance. “I agree. Call for backup. Every unit available needs to head to the Updike farm.”

  The tension in Aaron’s belly curled tighter. “We’re still fifteen minutes away. A lot can happen in fifteen minutes.”

  Clay barked orders into the radio while Aaron sent up prayers for Zoe and Sophia’s safety. How had this happened? How had Alexander gotten her out of the house right under their very noses? Where was Sophia? Was she with Alexander and Zoe?

  Traffic on the road to the farm was heavy enough to slow them down slightly in spite of the fact that Clay had the siren going. They still had to slow down as people pulled over and maneuver safely through intersections. “Come on, Clay.”

  “Going as fast as I can.”

  Aaron prayed it was fast enough.

  *

  Zoe’s panic tripled when Alexander stopped the car. He got out and shut the door then started around toward her side. She leaned over and with her bound hands pulled the cuff of her jeans up enough to get to the strap holding the small pistol in the ankle holster. She slipped it off and glanced up to see him almost at her door.

  She pulled her pant leg down just as he opened the door and grasped her upper arm. He hauled her out. “Alexander, please don’t do this.”

  “It’s not like I really want to, Zoe. It’s just the way things have worked out.”

  “Where’s Ginny? How did you convince her to go along with you?”

  “How do you know I did?”

  “Because Ginny said something about massive amounts of security on Sophia’s school and the house when I was determined to keep Sophia home today. Ginny convinced me Sophia would be safe because of it and it was the only reason I let her go. But there was no extra security. She had to think on her feet and make that up so she could get Sophia away from me.”

  “You always were a smart girl.”

  “Well?”

  “Ginny has a special-needs sister in Nashville who loves her very expensive private group home. Unfortunately Ginny’s parents have fallen on hard times. I simply offered to pay the girl’s fees for the next year if she would let me protect Sophia. It took some convincing, but once the money was in her account she agreed. As long as I promised not to hurt Sophia.” He rolled his eyes and placed a hand over his heart and mocked, “She’s my granddaughter, my dead son’s child, I would never hurt her. I just want the best for her. Look at all the danger she’s in. Zoe may be willing to trust her life into the hands of the local sheriff’s office, and that’s her decision, but I want my granddaughter to have more protection than that. Please, Ginny, I can’t do this without your help. Zoe won’t let me get near her. I have money, I can hire bodyguards, but I can’t do all that if she’s not with me. What will it take to convince you?” Zoe couldn’t take her eyes from him. He deserved an Oscar. His sincerity, his pleading eyes nearly convinced even her.

  She could see how Ginny fell for it. Was that why Ginny had questioned Zoe the night Brian had tried to break into the house? Had she been feeling Zoe out? Trying to determine how Zoe felt about her father-in-law? Zoe felt sick. Never in a million years would she have suspected him capable of this kind of thing. He pushed her toward the barn and she stumbled along the snow-covered grass. “Why did you try to kidnap Sophia when she was on her way home from school? What purpose would that serve?”

  “I was going to be the hero. I was going to pay the ransom, return your daughter to you and then talk you into making me guardian should anything happen to you. After all, it’s obvious how much I loved and wanted her.”

  Zoe wanted to weep. “I never would have agreed.”

  “Sure you would have. You would have owed me. It’s just the way you’re wired. Then once the papers were signed and all legal, you would have suffered a terrible car accident at some point in the near future.”

  “Sometime after today,” she said. Her voice sounded dull. Resigned. She had to get away from him. Sophia was safe for now. She’d thought he was taking her to Knoxville, that she would have more time to think, to plan her escape. But if she didn’t do something fast, she was dead.

  “Definitely after today.”

  Zoe stopped walking. “But you tried to run me off the road shortly after Sophia’s kidnapping attempt. You could have killed me.”

  “Could have, but I didn’t think it would. The point was to scare you into running to me for help.” He gave her a rough shove that almost sent her to her knees.

  She kept her balance. “But of course I didn’t.”

  “No, of course not. That little plan backfired and sent you running, period.”

  “And yet you still managed to find me?”

  He laughed. “I knew where you were two days after you left. You forget that I have friends in high places. Police officer friends who were very sympathetic to the fact that my daughter-in-law had taken my granddaughter and moved away without leaving her contact information. One had no trouble finding you and passing that information along to me.”

  Zoe’s sinking feeling dipped lower. “Well, if you knew where I was the whole time, why wait a month to come after me?”

  “It’s all about th
e timing, Zoe. It takes time to plan these things. To research the people you associated with, to find the right people to hire to…find you.”

  “Time to plot my murder?”

  “If you want to be crass about it.” He stopped in front of the barn and held the gun steady on her. “But of course all that went down the drain because people are incompetent. I find that if I want things done right, I just have to do them myself.” He gestured toward the door. “Now get inside. You’ll be safe in the barn.”

  “Safe?”

  “Wrong word.” He narrowed his eyes. “Hidden if you prefer. Regardless of what you call it, this will be a good place for you to pass out from your overdose. One of the hands will find you day after tomorrow.”

  He twisted to open the barn door and for just a moment he was distracted. She lifted a foot and planted it against the back of his right knee in a swift hard kick. He hollered and went down.

  Zoe spun and took off around the side of the barn.

  *

  Clay rolled onto the Updike property at a slow crawl. “What are you doing?”

  “Don’t want to tip him off that we’re here,” Clay said. “We need to use caution. The GPS say he’s still on the property?” he asked Lance.

  “Yes, the car is here.”

  Aaron wanted to bolt from the backseat and go find Zoe, but he curbed his impatience. He sure didn’t want to make a bad situation worse by being impulsive. “So what are we waiting for?”

  “Backup,” Clay said.

  “Zoe might not have time for backup,” Aaron hissed. “We need to find her now.” He looked at the snow-covered ground. “Those tire tracks are fresh. All we have to do is follow them.”

  “We can’t go busting in trying to find her. We could set him off if he realizes we know he’s here.”

  “Then let’s do a subtle search. I don’t care how we do it, we just need to do it now.” Clay hesitated then glanced at Lance. “What would you do if it was Sabrina?” Aaron pressed.

  “Fine,” Clay conceded. “But you stay back. You’re not a cop.”